An Abbott ($ABT) Diagnostics assay wowed researchers by identifying many more female patients likely to suffer heart attacks than current technology allows. As The Telegraph reports, the test measures levels of troponin, a protein that leaks into the blood from heart muscle cells after a heart attack. Current tests do this, but they are far less sensitive. That's relevant to female cardiac patients because women generate lower troponin levels in general, according to the article, and doctors had previously assumed that troponin levels indicating a heart attack were equal in male and female patients. This new test showed otherwise, researchers from the University of Edinburgh and colleagues noted as part of the European Society of Cardiology conference in Amsterdam. The hope is that the diagnostic will help boost correct heart attack diagnoses for women and improve treatment and outcomes. Story